I have read great posts from this forum for quite a while, and now I'm posting for first time, so thank you already from great ideas.

I have been thinking of making my first simple plywood board and I hope that I would get some tips before I start making it. My most concerns are typical: size, flex, rocker and weight. Luckily I have one plywood board already which I got as a bargain when I bought one of my kites. At the moment that is my lightwind board and I love that when my factory made boards are not enough I can still go with my plyboard.

So...
I want to replace my plywood board with two new ones. I want one board for me to do jumps and later one for even lower wind (plydoor).

So my first consernes are:

Q1:
What I have understood, people usually uses 4-6mm of ply. Is there a reason why not to use even thinner plywood, I'm thinking of 2-3mm of ply. I think it would be easier to do rocker with more layers.

Q2:
How to finish the plyboards, I want to go with the easiest way because these are my first boards that I'm gonna make.

Q3:
The size, I know there is no right answer to this but I found this post from other forum and I would like some comments for this. I would like the idea of kind of short and wide board:

Dunno about those boards. I had a custom made by Cardboards some years ago and it rips in light winds and is ok in stronger winds (but a little bit skatey when the wind gets up).

You want planing area under your feet where it counts.
Avoid rocker. Rocker is slow and sucks power.
Avoid length and flex. A long board flexes and that makes rocker and rocker is slow.
Avoid too much finnage. Fins create drag and drag is slow....
Avoid offsetting the straps to the heel side. That edges too much. Creates drag and imbalance. Slow...

Thats a lot of old Batteries! where did they all come from?
Before I started Vac bagging I used to use bags of sand and gravel rather than solid weights, in the belief that they would spread the load better.
But when you realise a bit of polythene sheet and a vac pump gives you the equivanent to ~5000kg (for a 140 x 40cm board), or 200x25kg bags of stuff, that seems a better way to go!

A1: I do not use ply any more. Because it has voids inside the ply which are not visible when buying. Than you hit the void ie. when drilling for footpads inserts.

Bending strength comes from the 'core' thickness. Cubed. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexural_modulus)
so having 6mm ply is 216, but 8m is 512 (if width equal, ie 12mm). So only 2mm difference in wood (cheap), is enormous difference in result.

A2: Easiest would be with a spray gun. But that requires a compressor, etc.

A3: The question is: what is your weight, height and environment you ride in.

A1: I do not use ply any more. Because it has voids inside the ply which are not visible when buying. Than you hit the void ie. when drilling for footpads inserts.

Bending strength comes from the 'core' thickness. Cubed. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexural_modulus)
so having 6mm ply is 216, but 8m is 512 (if width equal, ie 12mm). So only 2mm difference in wood (cheap), is enormous difference in result.

A2: Easiest would be with a spray gun. But that requires a compressor, etc.

A3: The question is: what is your weight, height and environment you ride in.

Thank you for your kind words about Finland,

If you don't use ply anymoor, what do you use?

I'm around 83kg and 179cm, and I am usually riding in finland, here is quite small waves, various winds and cold water . But I am gonna go to work in Sydney for some time at the end of this year.

Ha ha, you come to Syd and I'll go to Helsinki any time Did that, done. Kiitos.

My FS Radical 4 has no concave, and it's 126/38cm. It has a channel and only on a heel side. Very comfortable board in choppy water. 5cm fins. I just got it last week. The other one is 120/39cm I'm riding 99% of my time.

People in general do not ride small boards, and it's difficult to judge by watching video how one board would work for *you*. Build it, it's a simple build that and you'll know!

Ha ha, you come to Syd and I'll go to Helsinki any time Did that, done. Kiitos.

My FS Radical 4 has no concave, and it's 126/38cm. It has a channel and only on a heel side. Very comfortable board in choppy water. 5cm fins. I just got it last week. The other one is 120/39cm I'm riding 99% of my time.

People in general do not ride small boards, and it's difficult to judge by watching video how one board would work for *you*. Build it, it's a simple build that and you'll know!

Some of my builds are on this forum, look for "My New Year build".

Here is my boards and thoughts about them. I cannot understand how can you use so small boards? I would just sink or couldn't get upwind at all with so small boards or do I just kite in gustier conditions.

My boards (LxW / measured rocker):

Slingshot Misfit 129 (129x28 / ~3,0):
This was my first board that I bought, I think everybody were using smaller boards then, this is too small board for me, I did use it for some time but I have bigger boards now so I don't use it anymore.

Spleene RIP 135rs 2010 (135x42 / ~3,2):
This is great board, I am surprised how low it goes compared the size, great allaround. My girlfriend usually uses this and I use it if wind is too low for my LQ focus, Awesome straps.

Liquid Force Focus 2015 (138x41 / ~4,0):
Great board for jumps, I love this board when the wind is enough, I'm thinking of changing Straps to boots, I think the straps which comes with the board sucks.

Handmade Plyboard (145x42,5 / ~2,7) got it as a bargain with one kite:
Simple plyboard, board we use for lightwinds, stiff as hell, small rocker, no channels no concave. Two layers of 7mm baltic birch. Feels sometimes skatey, easy to turn, I can go very low with this and my North Juice 15m2 and my girlfriend goes even when I can't because she's smaller.